There is no rest for the defending national champions. Just seven weeks and two days removed from winning its second national championship in three years, Clemson begins spring practice this afternoon inside the Poe Indoor Practice Facility in Clemson.
Though the Tigers return some of the nation’s top talent of offense, including quarterback Trevor Lawrence and reigning ACC Player of the Year Travis Etienne at running back, they have several question marks on the roster.
The entire defensive line must be replaced on defense, while there are two holes to fill at linebacker as well. The tight end situation is iffy at best heading into the spring on offense, while the Tigers must also find a new placekicker.
Defensive coordinator Brent Venables must replace six starters from his front seven, including all four defensive linemen. He also lost reserve defensive tackle Albert Huggins to graduation.
The leadership Huggins and the other four—Clelin Ferrell, Dexter Lawrence, Christian Wilkins and Austin Bryant—brought to the table must also be replaced and that will not be an easy task. It also does not help that the only two guys returning on the interior of the defensive line with experience—Nyles Pinckney and Jordan Williams—will miss the spring due to injury.
Clemson will miss Ferrell and Bryant on the outside, two defensive ends that horrified quarterbacks the last two years. However, Xavier Thomas might end up being the best pass rusher the Tigers have ever had, and redshirt freshman K.J. Henry was a top 10 recruit coming out of high school.
At linebacker, Venables has to replace Kendall Joseph and Tre Lamar. However, Clemson is in better shape there. The Tigers are still deep at linebacker, in terms of depth, and Venables likes what he has in veterans James Skalski, Chad Smith and Shaq Smith when it comes to replacing Joseph and Lamar.
Strongside backer Isaiah Simmons might be the best football player on Clemson’s roster in 2019. He led the Tigers with 89 tackles last year and decided to return to school for one more season, along with safeties Tanner Muse and K’Von Wallace.
Clemson’s secondary should be its strong suit in 2019. It finally has depth at safety and A.J. Terrell is one of the best cornerbacks in the ACC. The Tigers do have to find a replacement for Trayvon Mullens, but they have a lot of good candidates, starting with Kyler McMichael, lining up to replace him.
On special teams, kicking field goals is going to be a concern. B.T. Potter will replace Greg Huegel, who finished his career as Clemson’s second all-time leading scorer. Potter definitely has the leg, but his accuracy is a concern heading into the spring.
Will Spiers is back to punt, but he will be challenged this spring by former IMG Academy punter Aidan Swanson, who enrolled at Clemson in January. He was the No. 4 punter in the country coming out of high school according to 247Sports.com.
Until it knows what is going to happen with Braden Galloway’s suspension, Clemson’s depth chart at tight end is sort of up in the air heading into spring practice.
Milan Richard and Cannon Smith have graduated, and Garrett Williams is likely not going to return as he contemplates a career in the military. That leaves Clemson with J.C Chalk and true freshman Jaylene Lay as the only tight ends, at this point, it will have available in the fall.
Four seniors return on the offensive line. However, the Tigers have to replace the best offensive lineman in Clemson history in All-American Mitch Hyatt at left tackle, while All-ACC center Justin Falcinelli is gone as well.
Sophomore Jackson Carman, the No. 1 ranked offensive linemen in the 2018 Class, will replace Hyatt, while senior Gage Cervenka will move over from right guard to start at center.
As far as playmakers go, no one is in better shape than Clemson. Justyn Ross and Tee Higgins return as perhaps the best pair of wide receivers in Clemson history. And oh, by the way, Amari Rodgers is not too bad either.
Move over Alabama, Clemson is the new King of College Football. In our new magazine “Little Ole Clemson”: The Best “Little” Dynasty Ever, we examine not just the 2018 team’s run to being “the best ever” but examine the last four seasons and how Dabo Swinney turned Clemson into the new dynasty of college football. We also take a look at the role former athletic director Terry Don Phillips played. We go behind the scenes at the Tigers’ run to a second national championship in three seasons and the previous three national championship runs. It also features stories on the Power Rangers, the 2018 senior class, high quality photos and much, much more.
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